


Leave It All Behind For Me

by TealrootsG



Category: My Chemical Romance, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance (Album)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Substance Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24464212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TealrootsG/pseuds/TealrootsG
Summary: Sequel to Break The Law For MeAfter applying for college, convincing his parents that leaving for New York was a good idea, Frank finally reunites with Gerard after two months.A lot can change in two months though, and Frank doesn't fully know what to expect when he arrives at Gerard's door.[discontinued until further notice]
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. o n e

"This is ridiculous." Brendon sighed, and Frank could practically see him rolling his eyes even though they were speaking over the phone.

"No, it's not." He muttered defensively, though his tone was weak because although going to New York was what he wanted, it was a bit sudden.

Apparently, like sane people, his parents had thought so too. They hadn't exactly been pleased when Frank had announced over the phone that he'd be relocating to New York.

Of course, they'd said no, which had provoked a long-winded explanation about why moving was a good thing and not totally irrational.

Obviously, Frank had skipped and dodged telling the actual truth behind it as much as humanely possible, which was that he was going to see his art teacher, but he'd conjured up a fairly solid lie.

"It is!" Brendon exclaimed. "You can't just pick up your life and dump it in New York, all for some guy."

Yes, Frank had told Brendon that he was mainly moving because he wanted to be with his boyfriend, however he hadn't told Brendon that his boyfriend was their former art teacher, Mr Gerard Fucking Way.

"It's not just some guy." Frank retorted with a scoff, scowling a little as he took a deep breath. "He means a lot to me."

"Am I ever going to get to know who your super secret boyfriend is?" Brendon huffed, extremely curious because Frank hadn't ever mentioned him before.

As Frank threw open his wardrobe and dug around for suitable clothes to pack, he replied simply, "No."

"Why not?"

"The whole point of having a super secret boyfriend is that he stays a bloody secret."

"Alright, princess." Brendon surrendered. "Calm down."

Just as Frank started to chuck everything in to a suitcase, Brendon spoke up again, all jokes aside because the plan heavily relied on this: "I hope he feels the same way about you."

Those words made one word repeat over and over in Frank's mind: shit. Truth be told, he and Gerard had never really talked about their relationship. Sure, they'd been on a date and kissed, but did Gerard really like him that much? One date didn't equal ditching his life to live in New York with him.

"Well," Frank squeaked, instantly even more worried as dread bubbled to the surface. "We-we haven't really talked about it yet."

"Oh my God-"

"But." Frank slowly dropped the shirt he'd been holding, finding himself momentarily daydreaming about Gerard instead. "He's done so much for me this past year for it to just be a fling, or something that goes away."

"This past year?" Brendon asked, and Frank could see his eyebrows shooting off his head. "A year? You've been with this guy a whole fucking year and you never thought to tell me?"

Feeling a headache approaching from all the stress and questions, and juggling all the goddamn lies, Frank rubbed his eyes. "You're never going to get over that are you?"

"Not until you tell me."

"I will, I will, just not now, yeah?" He sighed deeply, falling back on to the bed. He desperately wanted to sleep, though his heart was too busy pounding out of his ribcage due to an intense mix of excitement and fear.

The fear mostly relied on whether the fact his parents were going to discover he lied right through his teeth.

Frank had told them that he was going to rent a flat with Brendon in New York and go to college to study music. Thankfully, his parents had offered to pay for college, and were also going go put a bit of money towards the first few months of rent until Frank got a job to support himself -which Frank was immensely grateful for.

Initially, that was the grand idea, seeing as he and Gerard had never officially discussed living arrangements. Days ago, Frank had asked Brendon if he would by chance rent a flat in New York with him, and it had gone like this:

"So, will you come to New York with me?" Frank asked, biting his nails to the bone as he started drowning in a familiar sea called anxiety. "My parents are paying for most of it, travel and stuff. . . Well, some of it's coming out of my savings."

After a long pause, Brendon answered quietly, "I would, but I can't."

Despite already knowing why, he frowned, "Why not?"

"Ryan is here, my friends are here, my parents are here, my job is here, my whole life is here." Brendon listed, hoping he wasn't totally crushing Frank's idea.

"Right, yeah. I know that, I'm such an idiot." He chuckled quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I understand."

Currently, Frank was asking for a different favour:

"Can you lie to my parents?" He pleaded, sitting up to resume packing a bag. "Tell them you have moved with me when you haven't?"

"You want me to lie to your parents?" Brendon gasped dramatically.

"Yeah?"

"'Cause that's fine." Brendon shrugged, and Frank was thankful he was being so cool about the whole thing. "What's gonna happen if they find out?"

Ah, fuck. Frank also hadn't properly thought about the God awful consequences that were inevitably going to fly his way eventually in the form of a shit storm. "Uhm." He bit his lip. "I guess I'll burn that bridge when we come to it-if we come to it."

"Is there anything else I need to lie about?"

"No." Frank furrowed his brows in thought while desperately trying to get his overflowing suitcase to zip shut. "Shouldn't be. Tell them you're getting a flat with me if they ring up to make sure it's actually true, and it'll be fine. My parents are never in Jersey, so you won't have to worry about running in to them or anything."

"Sounds like a rock solid plan." Brendon said sarcastically, receiving a half-hearted scowl that he couldn't even see in return.

"It is." Frank deadpanned, attempting to reassure himself too.

[Published 31 May 2020]


	2. back to black

Finally, after months of panicking, applying for college, arranging transport and preparing, Frank arrived in New York. Ecstatic didn't even begin to cover it -though frightened nearly did. Never had he travelled this far on his own, so he was kind of proud of himself.

How he managed to survive travelling by train, something he was terrified to do, he did not know. Granted, he'd had many anxiety attacks, but he'd succeeded. Anyway, it'd be worth it.

Lugging around a heavy suitcase, plus a guitar, didn't help as some of the crowds were huge and it weighed him down considerably, as well as causing him to knock in to three or four different pissed off people, who he'd apologised to before dashing off again.

With all the exercise he was getting by rushing around, Frank regretted wearing an oversized hoodie that swallowed his entire being because he got too hot, causing his cheeks to bloom a faint red.

Now, Gerard had texted him Mikey's address a few weeks ago, and Frank was kicking himself for not taking a screenshot earlier, so he'd had to scour through their messages to find the right one.

Even though they'd texted quite a lot over the past few months, Frank still missed him immensely. In addition, he didn't have the best memory in the world and had admittedly almost forgotten what Gerard looked and sounded like -well, that was an exaggeration, but he wouldn't mind refreshing his memory. Unfortunately, he also didn't have any photos of Gerard on his phone, which was going to have to change as soon as they were together again. God, Frank couldn't wait to ambush him with a camera.

Last time he'd seen Gerard, he'd had bright red hair, and Frank wondered if he'd kept it or dyed it a different colour.

Last time Gerard had seen Frank, he'd had fairly long had hair, and now it'd surpassed his shoulders by four inches, and in desperate need of a haircut, but that probably wasn't going to happened anytime soon as he despised going to the hairdressers. Honestly, Frank had barely changed at all.

Luckily, Mikey's apartment was only a mile from the station, so Frank decided to speed walk it, regardless of the suitcase, guitar and grey weather. Above, dark clouds were gathering in the sky, ready to pelt rain down upon poor humans at any second. Crossing his fingers, Frank prayed they didn't. He wouldn't have wanted to meet having his hair dripping wet and his clothes soaked. It'd make for an uncomfortable hug.

The walk there gave him extra time to mentally prepare, mind a whirlwind of anxiety.

What if Gerard hadn't missed Frank as much as Frank had missed him? What if Gerard had decided he didn't like him that much anymore? Maybe it would be a waste of a journey. After all, they hadn't properly discussed the extent of their relationship.

However, there was no turning back now because Frank was stood at Mikey's door. Heart pounding in his ribcage so violently that he could feel it beating in his throat, he raised a shaking hand and knocked on the door.

Stupidly, the one thing Frank had forgotten to do was actually tell Gerard he'd be coming today, so he was in for a bit of a surprise.

"Oh my God." Frank whispered, frozen in place when he heard shuffling behind the door. Unable to bare the anticipation, Frank held his breath and screwed his eyes shut until he heard the lock click open.

It was strange how he could be over the moon excited, and fucking terrified at the same time.

Exhaling slowly, Frank opened his eyes.

Hair matted in tangles with sweat, eyes half-lidded Gerard stood in the centre of the doorway, his hands gripping either sides of the frame. He seemed worn out and weary, unable to keep his head held high enough to meet Frank's gaze.

"G-Gerard?" Frank stuttered, somewhat shocked by the stranger who stood before him. There was no familiar golden glow in those hazel orbs, little colour in his ghostly pale cheeks, and he'd lost a notable amount of weight -not that Gerard hadn't been slim to begin with, but now there was nearly no meat left on his bones. He seemed to be a skeleton of his former self.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Gerard's eyes snapped open wide to take in Frank's appearance. He hadn't seen him since he'd left, and while he was extremely overjoyed that they were reunited, Gerard was surprised when he found himself wanting Frank to leave and come back later. He wasn't in a good state at the moment, so he didn't want Frank to see him like this.

"Gee?" Frank repeated when Gerard didn't answer.

"Hey, Frankie." He managed a smile, though his words slurred together slightly. "I-I thought you weren't-you're here?" He breathed in disbelief.

Frank nodded, linking his hands behind his back, scuffing his shoes on the floor nervously. "I-"

Though he didn't get to finish because Gerard suddenly grabbed Frank's shoulders, pulled him in for a bone crushing hug, and wrapped his arms around his waist. His grip was so tight, so full of desperation, that Frank thought he might break. "I missed you." Gerard whispered, his hot breath tickling Frank's ear.

"I missed you, too." Instantly, he clutched handfuls of Gerard's shirt, just to be sure he wouldn't lose him again.

Yes, they hadn't technically lost each other, but with all the time they'd spent apart, it kind of felt like it.

Gerard buried his head in the crook of Frank's neck, smiling so widely that the corners of his mouth might have torn. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Frank repeated as well, taking a deep breath. Gerard still smelled like coffee and cigarettes.

Honestly, Frank possibly could have cried, but it wasn't like they'd been separated for years, so he refrained to save himself the embarrassment.

Eventually, Gerard reluctantly pulled back, keeping his hands on Frank's hips, where his hoodie had bunched up.

Gazing up at him, Frank saw that the golden spark had returned to Gerard's dreary eyes, and he grinned even wider -if that was humanely possible.

"No red hair, huh?" He asked casually, like he wasn't totally exploding with happiness, bringing a hand up to run it through Gerard's slightly greasy hair. It'd been cut a little shorter, but still had a fringe, strayed around his neck, and, of course, was forever messy.

Gerard shook his head. "No red hair."

Taking his lip ring between his teeth, Frank tucked Gerard's hair behind his ears. "I like it better black, anyway." He beamed, "It's more you."

Furrowing his brows, he chuckled quietly, "More me?"

"Yeah. . . Black is more your colour." He hummed thoughtfully, looking in to Gerard's eyes as Gerard gazed right back.

They stayed like that for a while, both subconsciously leaning closer, and Frank tilted his head, brushing his lips against Gerard's, eager to go right ahead and kiss him. Though that seemed to snap Gerard back to reality as he blinked hard and awkwardly shuffled back a little.

Truthfully, Frank was disappointed he hadn't gotten to kiss the shit out of him, because, really, he wanted to, but there was time for that later.

"I'm sorry, I should've invited you in first." Gerard shook his head, gesturing vaguely towards the inside of the apartment.

Dragging his belongings behind him, Frank wandered in before Gerard shut the door behind them. "It's okay."

Mikey's apartment was bigger than originally expected. There was a sofa not too far from the door with a tv in front of the wall opposite. Dividing the living room area and kitchen was a black and silver marble counter, which matched the painted grey wooden cupboards and drawers. Towards the back, furthest from the door were two doors leading off in to the bedrooms.

All the walls were painted a creamy white, and there was a large window on one side overlooking New York. People seemed like ants from where they stood, indicating their apartment was quite high up. Frank couldn't help but smile when he noticed Gerard had stuck a few of his sketches and drawings to the walls, accompanied by a few band posters –including The Smiths.

"I, uhm, I'll take the sofa." Frank suggested hesitantly, mainly because he wasn't too sure of the sleeping arrangements, and didn't want to assume.

"No, you're not." Before he had the chance to object, Gerard snatched Frank's luggage, slinging the guitar strap over his shoulder, and headed towards the bedrooms. He opened the door on the right, waiting for Frank to head in first. "You'll take my room."

Currently, Mikey was in hospital, so Gerard was sleeping in Mikey's room, however that room was to temporarily become Frank's.

"What?" Frank took a moment to process what he'd said, peering in to the bedroom. Again, walls were white, decorated with Gerard's drawings. There was a double bed in the centre, a bedside table on one side and a wardrobe on the other. "No, I'm-"

"No arguing." Gerard raised his eyebrows expectantly. "I'm on the sofa, you're in here."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, you're my guest."

"As your guest, can I still protest until you change your mind?" A small smirk tugged at the corner of Frank's lips.

"You can try." He cocked his head to the side, a smirk playing about his lips too.

"Hmph." Shifting his weight to one foot, folding his arms across his chest, he tried to make himself seem as intimidating as possible, though Gerard just narrowed his eyes. They remained staring intensely at each other for a substantial amount of time, both reluctant to break first.

That was until Frank thought, fuck it, and decided they could be using this time to do something much more worthwhile than have a silent argument over who gets the goddamn sofa.

Admittedly catching Gerard off guard, Frank almost ran forwards and put a hand on Gerard's back to bring him in close. The other ended up tangled in his wild hair, and he captured Gerard's mouth with his.

Already sinking in to it, Gerard let out a small noise of contentment because it'd been a while since they'd done this particular activity. Deepening the kiss, eyes slipping shut, Gerard draped his arms around Frank's shoulders.

Of course it was a little rushed, so they weren't in sync, but neither of them really cared. Gerard ran his tongue over Frank's bottom lip, then took it between his teeth for a moment to earn a small whimper from Frank before reconnecting their lips again.

Reluctantly, after a stretched out minute, they pulled back for air, because being able to breathe was essential apparently, but kept their foreheads touching.

Carding his fingers through Gerard's hair, causing him to shiver faintly, Frank breathed. "I've missed doing that."

"Me too." Gerard placed one last chaste kiss to Frank's wet lips, then leaned back to look at him. Despite all that's happened, he still couldn't quite comprehend the wonderful fact that Frank was actually here.

Absentmindedly, Frank continued to play with Gerard's hair. "Are you gonna dye the roots again?"

"Uhm." He chewed his cheek, darting his gaze out of the window. "I don't think so. Last time was sort of a joke."

"But you looked so cute." Frank pouted, twirling a strand around his finger. "How about I dye your roots?"

"Hmm. Depends." Gerard narrowed his eyes sceptically. "What colour?"

"I don't know yet."

"It's a dangerous thing, letting you decide." He contemplated the idea, earning a confused look. "You'll probably want go dye them rainbow."

"Now there's an idea." A smirk plastered itself across his face, and Gerard's eyes widened.

"No way. Don't even try to."

"I'll do what I like." Frank murmured, glancing at Gerard's slightly swollen lips before leaning in again.

[Published 2 June 2020]


	3. Chapter 3

“Find anything decent?” Gerard called over his shoulder as he poured hot water in to their cups.

“Nope.” Frank huffed, flicking through numerous tv channels to attempt to find something bearable to watch.

Obviously, they couldn’t spend the entire day making out, though Frank supposed it wasn’t the worst idea in the world, so Gerard had helped Frank unpack his things, hanging his wide variety of clothes -consisting mainly of hoodies and baggy jeans- up in the wardrobe beside his own –the majority skinny jeans and shirts. Despite the suitcase being quite big, Frank hadn’t brought a whole lot of things because he didn’t know how long he’d be staying, and didn’t want to assume.

Currently, Gerard was making coffee, wearing the batman pyjamas he’d changed in to a few hours ago, which had received a bit of teasing from Frank. Though Gerard had returned the favour when Frank had gotten dressed in to a shirt with Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas on it and black and white stripy pyjama pants.

Meanwhile, Frank was huddled up on the sofa, knees to his chest, pressing the arrow button on the remote nearly a thousand times. He’d been glaring at the screen for too long, causing his vision to blur a little.

The world outside had been reduced to darkness, and the bright lights shining out from office windows and from cars racing down the roads were beautiful. For a solid twenty minutes, Frank had gazed out of the window to admire the view, but had slowly crawled on to the sofa in to his current position.

“I think I have Master of Photography recorded.” Gerard recalled, wandering over to carefully setting their cups down on the table. A few weeks ago, he’d started recording that programme for Frank because he knew he enjoyed it.

“Really?” Frank brightened, trying to find it, and smiling when he did.

Slowly, Gerard climbed on to the sofa, resembling a shy cat, and shuffled closer to Frank as he pulled his knees to his chest. Then he glanced at him, eyes reflecting the light from the tv, making them look wide –again, like a cats. “Is this fine?” He asked quietly, referring to where he was sat.

Brows slightly furrowed, Frank nodded. He wouldn’t have cared if Gerard had plonked himself directly on his lap, so sitting in a close proximity was not a problem. “Thank you for the coffee.” He added.

Gerard smiled. “You’re welcome.”

-

By nine o’clock at night, the tv was forgotten since they’d drifted off in to a sleep-like state instead. The sleepiest out of the two, Gerard, was snoring softly, occasionally muttering incoherent words in his sleep, while Frank was on the brink of being awake, listening to Gerard’s steady breathing.

Eventually, he stirred. Yawning quietly, Gerard’s eyes fluttered open for a moment.

“Hey.” Frank chuckled quietly, brushing Gerard’s hair behind his ear.

Gerard hummed in response, a lazy smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Then shifted to wrap an arm around Frank’s waist as he nuzzled in to his side, resting his head on Frank’s chest. The dim yellow light cast through window illuminated Gerard’s soft features. He began snoring again.

Sighing happily, Frank placed a kiss to the top of Gerard’s head, then decided he might as well settle down to sleep because they probably weren’t going to move until morning. So much for not sleeping on the sofa.

During this time, the lock on the door clicked, striking fear through him. Eyes widening, he peered over the back of the sofa to see what murderer or burglar was about to stroll through the door –with a key apparently.

Admittedly, Frank had completely forgotten about the fact another person lived here too. So when the door swung open, allowing light from the outside hall to flood in, Frank just about had a heart attack. They were just a silhouette against the light.

“Gerard?” An unfamiliar voice called out, reminding Frank that robberies didn’t tend to include casual conversations, and that Gerard had briefly told him a few weeks ago that they’d have a flatmate –Ray Toro.

“Not Gerard.” Frank squeaked, hoping he didn’t sound too afraid.

Shrugging his coat off to hang it up by the door, Ray squinted at the two figures slumped on the couch, then a confused, yet kind expression washed over his features. “Oh, Gerard said you’d be arriving soon. You’re Frank, right?”

“Yeah, hi.” Frank attempted to sit up a little, as much as the weight of a sleeping Gerard would allow, careful not to disturb him, then held his hand out for Ray to shake, which he did. “And you’re Ray?”

Nodding once, he glanced at Gerard. “He asleep?”

“Yup.” He pressed his lips in to a thin line, suddenly aware of how weird it must be to find someone you’ve never met snuggled up with one of your best friends on the couch in the dark in Jack Skellington pyjamas.

“Sorry I’m getting here late, I had work.” Ray switched on a lamp that was on the kitchen counter.

“It’s okay.” Frank shrugged, offering a small smile. “I should have told you guys I was coming today.”

“Call it even?” He returned the smile.

“Sure.”

It fell silent, save for the static of the tv and engines on the streets below, though Frank was glad it was free of awkwardness.

Ray rummaged through the cupboards, trying not to wake Gerard with all the noise, then glanced at Frank and asked, “Did you guys have dinner? I usually make it for Gerard, otherwise he can forget.”

“Oh, uhm.” He bit his lip, absentmindedly tracing patterns on Gerard’s pale skin, up and down his arm. “No, we just had snacks.” At the mere mention of food, Frank’s stomach twisted, reminding him of how hungry he actually was. 

“I can still make something?” He hadn’t had time for dinner either. “I’ll just stick chips in the oven.”

“Yeah,” he replied, a little surprised at how nice Ray was being considering the circumstances. “That’d be great, thank you.”

-

When the oven timer ran out, Frank realised he had to actually wake Gerard up, which he didn’t particularly want to do. Gerard tended to be irritable at being bothered during the hours he dedicated his time to sleeping, but for the majority, Frank found his grumpy state adorable.

“Hey, sleepy beauty.” He gently shook Gerard’s shoulder.

It took a solid minute, but eventually Gerard’s expression morphed in to scowl, and he stretched his legs out on the sofa as he groaned, “What?”

“Rise and shine.” Frank sang, albeit his voice was rather husky, tapping Gerard on the nose.

Obviously, because it was still dark, it was not morning, but Gerard hadn’t opened his eyes yet, so he didn’t know that. “What time is it?”

“Nine. At night.” He added, “Ray is making chips.”

At that, Gerard cracked a smile as he gradually moved to sit up, forcing his eyes to focus. “He’s home?” Since they’d both left for work early in the morning, they hadn’t seen each other all day.

Frank nodded towards the kitchen, where Ray waved. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He turned around to face him, folding his arms on the back of the couch, resting his chin on them. “How was work?”

Ray scratched his head in thought, and Frank was surprised his fingers didn’t get tangled in his frizzy hair. “Pretty hectic and boring at the same time.”

“Worst combination.” Gerard wrinkled his nose.

Then it dawned of him that he hadn’t properly explained the whole living situation. “I, uhm, haven’t introduced you guys, have I?” He smiled sheepishly, receiving a “no” and a “not really” in unison. Digging the heels of his palms in to his eyes, he mumbled, “Crap.”

“I guess Frank’s staying with us for a few nights?” Ray spoke up, retrieving the tray from the oven, filling the room with the smell of chips that only made them all hungrier. “That’s fine, I don’t mind.”

“Well, uhm.” Gerard shot a side glance at Frank, seemingly communicating the “oh no” expression at the same time. “More than a few nights. . . I don’t know how long exactly. I’m sorry for springing this on you.”

“I’m sorry too.” Frank bit his lip anxiously, fiddling with a stray thread on one of the cushions.

“Oh.” Ray paused, furrowing his brows. “Don’t worry about it.”

Despite Ray saying it was okay, they were all still worried about the fact there was a lot going on already, and now Frank was adding to the chaos, which he was well aware of and felt immensely guilty for.

“I can get my own place if it’s too much.” He suggested, trying to recall the amount of money his parents had left him with, though it wasn’t necessary.

“Don’t be silly.” Ray chuckled. “I’m telling you, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Giving them a half smile, Ray nodded. “I’m sure.” Fetching three plates from a cupboard, laying them out on the counter, he announced, “Dinner is ready, children.”

“Hush, Toro, we’re basically the same age.” Gerard narrowed his eyes, reluctantly dragging himself off the sofa to trudge in to the kitchen. He slid his plate along the counter until it was in front of the stool he perched himself on.

“I’m older by eight months.” He said smugly, sharing out the chips equally among them. “To me, you are children.”

“Wow. Can’t argue there.” Frank chuckled, sitting beside Gerard.

Leaning back on the counter, Ray just rolled his eyes.

-

After hours of mindless chatter, involving Frank getting to know Ray a little better, and vice versa, Ray bid them goodnight and retreated to his room as he had to be at work in twelve hours.

Once they were finished, Frank dumped the plates in the sink, then turned the tap on, filling it with hot water. Gerard dropped the spare blankets and pillow from his room that he’d just dug out from the depths of his cupboard on to the sofa.

Regardless their small excuse for an argument had ended ages ago, Frank brought it up again anyway. “Are you sure you’re fine on the couch?”

“Yes.” Gerard raised his eyebrows, too tired to bicker. “Don’t start with me.”

“Why?” Frank crossed his arms. “What’ll happen?”

Rolling his eyes, Gerard went over to help Frank with the washing up. “Literally nothing.” He breathed a short laugh.

“Too bad.”

Washing the dishes should have been a tedious task, though a couple of minutes in, it became considerably less boring.

“You forgot to rinse the bubbles off this.” Frank commented, holding out the plate towards Gerard, who gave him a deadpan glare.

“Wipe them off.” He shrugged.

“Alright.” Scooping the bubbles off the plate, he gathered them in his palm, then blew them at Gerard, which he wasn’t very impressed by, but smiled nonetheless.

“Really?” He giggled, wiping the bubbles off his face with the back of his hand.

“Yup.” Frank stated seriously, trying to keep a straight expression, but it was hard and he nearly burst in to a fit of giggles himself.

“You utter child.”

“Not for almost a year now.”

“Prepare yourself.” Gerard dipped his hand in the sink and flicked water at Frank, who scowled playfully, retaliating by doing his best to put bubbles in Gerard’s hair.

Thus begun a very serious, grown-up water fight.

[Published 4 June 2020]


End file.
